I would say the combat shotgun is ridiculously good. Once you get that, provided your small guns is half-decent, you'll be able to blow away almost anyone in one shot.

Which I actually didn't realise until much later as for some reason I expected that the combat shotgun wouldn't be as good as the assault rifle for targets further away than a few spaces, since I expected accuracy to degrade faster for shotguns for some reason. Not sure where I got that crazy idea from - maybe from something stupid, like, oh, I dunno... the real world maybe? Or maybe every other game ever made in the history of creation up to that point?

Sorry for the rant - it's one of the few things that really bugs me about that game. At least in FO2 there were better "small guns" available, so the combat shotgun (and its variants) didn't feel as crazy...

Hmm...I never liked it that much. I know it's relatively powerful, but unless your PC is going to use it, it has the severe drawback of burst fire mode, which means you won't want to give it to any of your trigger-happy companions.

I actually greatly prefer the weapon selection in Fallout 1. Fallout 2 jacks up the firepower so high (in a world where almost all industry has been destroyed) that mid- to late- game combat becomes a joke.

@Nirth: Take my advice and do the "protect the farm" quest in the Hub. It's a tough fight, but the reward will help you, trust me.

BTW, what sort of character are you playing? I'm curious what skills you've focused on, since you're having so much trouble with the combat. If I knew what your character was like it would be easier to give advice.

My character: here

I use a Leather Armor and just recently, the modified .223 pistol from the protect the farm quest.

Katja uses SMG, Tycho a normal shotgun and Ian a Desert Eagle. I noticed the first battle at the farm I lost Ian so I reloaded but one of the guys dropped a Combat Shotgun. Can I return to that place and see if it's one left? I couldn't find it because all bodies were in the same place so I figured returning later might show only the weapons as bodies disappear but then again maybe items do too.

Just for the sake of it I tried killing another Deathclaw and it worked. It's a pity I can't control my followers as they like to shoot each other's back but they survived and I have quite a few stimpcaks. It does take time though so I'm going to look around more in the Boneyard and maybe return to the Hub and kill the Deathclaw connected to the quest.

As it is now I could just run with the Caravans to get some money and kill raiders and explore more of the world, potentially picking up more quests so I can become stronger but due to the limit it seems it's smartest to clear every area as much as possible before moving to the next. Currently I have 180 days left, that's with the added 100+ days from the Water Merchants.

I meant for my PC (tended to give strong pistols to the companions), as they're the most effective small arm in my view. You can burst up close, or you can hit them in the eyes with called shots - most of the time, most enemies go down in one hit. The sniper rifle is in theory better for long-range sniping, but it takes longer to fire, and doesn't kill them any quicker.

Naturally there are better long-range weapons near the end, but they require a different skill, which would be big guns or energy, depending on your preference (unless you're a melee character of course).

Actually I'd recommend energy weapons for the late game in FO1 since there's one really cool weapon which wipes the floor with anything, cuts through most armor like butter - and can be modified to fire faster than most other weapons (well, faster than anything that comes close to its power). It's not strictly necessary, but in my view makes fights easier (though looting what's left of the bodies can be a bit annoying).

Well there ARE a lot of guns in America aren't there? ;)

Add combat-ready troops preparing (or coming back from) war with China, and then a nuclear war wiping out lots of people, I can easily imagine there'd be more than enough weaponry to go around. Also, don't the gun-runners in FO1 "make" guns? I can easily imagine that 100 years later there'd be people making them.

Also the Enclave makes armor, I imagine they could make guns too (or have a massive stockpile).

Having said that though, I would have liked to have seen less of the crazy "hi-tech" small guns (or at least they should be rare), and instead more "home-made" or at least simple-to-manufacture weaponry. It's not that unrealistic either: the English Sten Guns were capable of being produced in backyard sheds, and they were very effective sub-machine guns. Then again, maybe Gauss rifles are easy to make in the alternate Universe?

I agree with you with respect to the energy weapons though. In FO1 those didn't appear for a long time, and then they were really rare; in FO2, while it takes a while to find one (if you follow the logical path), once you find one you can buy bucket-loads.

Actually speaking of energy weapons, what annoyed me about both Fallouts was how crappy laser weapons were - by the time you get them in both games they're practically useless, and even if you got them earlier they wouldn't be that good anyway. What makes it worse in FO2 is the big deal people make out of them (in Reno with the Salvatores), when you can easily get better "small arms" weapons.

That URL for your character image didn't show up in your post, but it appeared in the source so I've checked it.

Although I definitely completed the game before the best perks became available, I definitely remember being at a much higher level by the time I got to the boneyard. On the plus side, at least you're able to pick up Katya while you can still get some use out of her - by the time I found her she was practically useless.

The only real SPECIAL differences between my first character and yours is that I had less luck and more agility. When they become available to you, I'd suggest going for perks that either increase your ability to move and shoot, or your chance of getting criticals (or better criticals).

So it appears you've skipped a few quests (or towns?). It might be worth revisiting places where there's stuff still to do.

Unfortunately you won't be able to re-visit the farm area, so you'll have to restore an earlier save if you desperately want the combat shotty; however, you have the .223, so you got the most important thing!

Don't worry: the .223 has greater range than the combat shotgun, and does slightly more damage on average per shot. You're really only missing a burst mode, so just do aimed shots and you'll be fine.

Actually the one tip I would provide is to aim to have around 150 in small guns as soon as possible. You'll be able to take advantage of the .223's range a lot better, so those all-important aimed shots will hit more often (hopefully critically).

Get some perks that improve your criticals with 150 in small guns and you'll be a walking one-shot killing machine.

Of course if you decide that the energy weapon you find later might be awesome (which it is), then you'll have to increase your energy weapons as well. But don't worry, it's perfectly possible to have 150 small guns and a decent energy weapons skill (from memory I don't think it needs to be as high as small guns to be as effective).

Finally, some notes on the time limit:

1) I wouldn't worry too much about it. You've already extended it, but 180 days is a fair few.
2) Once you find the water chip there's still much more of the game to go, but the time limit is gone. I suspect you already suspect where it is, or at least where it may be. I'd sort that out soonish...

MINOR SPOILERS











I got a question for water chip. I've been to the city where you finally meet folks who know what it is, so Im pretty sure I have SOME idea. Does it take some serious fighting to get it though? I keep reading folks saying you can get it early and then go and finish out the rest of the games quests. If my assumptions are right about the chip, it feels like the biggest battle in the game stands in front of it. Surely I'm wrong on that though if it can be picked up as early as people make out?

Don't give me any details there, just wanna know if it's as hard as im assuming it is to get. Kinda trying to get a good picture on how much time I need to waste grinding for level ups before goin for it. I'd hate to run out of days.






END SPOILERS

You're going to want to stick with the .223 pistol for the rest of the game (unless you want to play as a dedicated sniper), although the .223 makes a great gun for Ian or Katja too. If you can find a 14mm pistol, that's a pretty good choice, since it's fairly powerful with no burst mode.

For Tycho I'd go with the Hunting Rifle until you can get a Sniper Rifle. He can do good damage with the Combat Shotgun too, but there's the friendly fire problem with that one.

The next perk I would be considering is Bonus Move (two free movement points every combat turn), or Gain Agility (I'm not sure you're high enough level to get that one yet). This is assuming you want to improve your combat ability.

Leather Armor is okay. It's about average for the wasteland. You're going to need something better to fight super mutants though, so keep an eye out for Combat Armor.

You've got enough points in Small Guns for the time being. At this point it's a case of diminishing returns, so I'd say it's time to focus on other skills. Maybe just put one or two in Small Guns each level unless you really, really feel like your combat is suffering in some way.

Overall the character you've created should be perfectly viable to finish the game, so it's going to be a question of finding better equipment and possibly finding non-combat ways around your problems.

SLIGHT SPOILERS REGARDING WATER CHIP


I've cleared out Necropolis and I've now returned the water chip so now the time limit is finally over. Then again I had like 175 days left but still. :P

Anyway, I'm now level 10 and I finally acquired the Combat Armor. I also happened to find a Plasma Pistol and a Laser Rifle, the latter surprisingly good (both damage and hit rate) even though I've only 17% in Energy Weapons. I also bought the Combat Shotgun for Tycho.

Something is up with Ian, he keeps going in melee even though he has like 4 weapons on him (Magnum, 10mm Pistol, 14mm Pistol, SMG). It sure is bothersome that the followers don't have inventory and their own AI. I want my micro-management.

Now I'm not too sure how I'm going to continue as I don't feel like I handle combat all that well, the Super Mutants are a definite no-go as of now but I might be able to handle The Glow as I've a bunch of Rad-X with me.

Regarding weapons, I've 150% in Small Guns but I've like 50 skillpoints left as I was saving some because I didn't want to spend in vain depending on what information I could find out about them. I was thinking of turning over to Energy Weapons because I can afford a Plasma Rifle then upgrade it at that Smith in Boneyard, I assume I won't be able to get a better weapon that. The problem is I've 5 in strength, I need 6.

Can I acquire that somehow? I've like 20,000 caps now. :P

I had the same issues with both Ian and katja, I think Katja can only use knives and the SMG.

For Ian, make sure he has ammo. Also, make sure you give him the command to take out his best weapon during battle. I also had to give him an SMG and the simple act of giving him a new strong weapon seemed to fix things. You could try taking his weapons away and then giving them back, then giving him said command.

That plasma rifle you get from the mutant at the watershed is indeed badass. Almost always a one hit kill and my plasma weapon skill is 60s-80, somewhere in there, can't remember exactly.

You can upgrade weapons? I didn't know that. I met with a gun dealer in boneyard who mentioned he made his own weapons, but I don't remember anything about the ability to upgrade thru him. All the more reason to head back over to that area.

I'm pretty much at the same stage as you, just returned water chip, facing the question of how should I power myself up for the coming battles. I personally am going to power up my energy weapons. I'd go big guns but with the way enemies/companions almost always get clustered up during combat, the use of a rocket launcher/minigun/flamethrower is guaranteed to take all my supply mules down.

Yeah, big guns would have been nice to try out but as you say, they are risky and I believe they are not so cost-effective unless you can lure enemies to one cluster then take them all out in hit but sadly this game doesn't offer that kind of crowd control, sadly enough (one part I miss in this game regarding combat).

I think I'll search and see if I can acquire another strength point then go with Energy Weapons, acquire the Plasma Rifle and Power Armor.

Regarding upgrading weapons, search around in Boneyard.

Earlier when I travelled from Shady Sands to Junktown I took off to explore some and I found a Ruined City, but I couldn't find anything to interact with be it a character, monster, item or a new location.

To be more specific, in Fallout you can only upgrade one weapon.

If you don't meet the strength requirements on weapons, the only thing you suffer is an aiming penalty. The weapon is still usable. With enough skill points in energy weapons it doesn't really matter.

Good to know, but I found a way to get it anyway so might as well use it.

I didn't want to spoil anything, so I deleted the part with the explanation on how the get your strength boosted.

Glad to hear you got it yourself, since this is half the fun in Fallout. Finding out how things work, finding ways to make things work and just playing around with and in the world is the gist of the game IMO.

I've cleared The Glow, that was a fantastic place regarding atmosphere and non-combat parts of the game.

Now I've the Turbo Plasma Rifle, 70% Energy Weapons and Hardened Power Armor, about as strong as I can get. Level 12 and a bunch of grenades to boot too.

However, my followers don't seem too powerful against Super Mutants. Anything I can do about that? Katja still deal ridiculously low damage and I can't take Dog with me as he will die almost instantly. Ian and Tycho both has each a Combat Armor at least.

Not really. The followers were very much an afterthought, the sole work of one designer who wanted to add the functionality before release. If they're a little poorly implemented, it's partially scheduling and partially just one overworked writer.*
He also wrote VAX. I always liked VAX.
But anyway, the followers can be left behind somewhere as you please; for atmospheric purposes I tend to ditch them at a bar or in Shady Sands. The alternative is that you can desperately try to keep them alive everywhere you go.

70% in energy weapons should do you okay for now, though it's good to improve your skill as you continue. The ideal, of course, is to get good enough to hit the enemy between the eyes at maximum range 95% of the time. With a turbo plasma rifle, it's a quick blow that tends to melt opponents into puddles of goo.

* Addendum: Jess Heinig, if you're wondering. I've met him online, he's nice and humble.